Near the end of her long life, Mary Somerville wrote that killing or hurting animals is contrary to God’s mercy and justice:
The short time I have to live naturally occupies my thoughts. . . . As I do comprehend, in some degree at least, the exquisite loveliness of the visible world, I confess I shall be sorry to leave it. I shall regret the sky, the sea, with all the changes of their beautiful colouring; the earth, with its verdure and flowers: but far more shall I grieve to leave animals who have followed our steps affectionately for years, without knowing for certainty their ultimate fate. . . . If animals have no future, the existence of many is most wretched; multitudes are starved, cruelly beaten, and loaded during life; many die under a barbarous vivisection. I cannot believe that any creature was created for uncompensated misery; it would be contrary to the attributes of God’s mercy and justice. (Quoted in The Life of the Creative Spirit, p.275.)
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For a short biography of Mary Somerville, click here.
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